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2025 MWELA Annual Conference
Friday, February 28, 2025, 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM EST
Category: MWELA Events

2025 MWELA Annual Conference
Friday, February 28
, 2025
The Mayflower
1127 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036
Valet Parking available at the venue's posted rates.

8:00 am - 6:00 pm 


MWELA’s Annual Conference is an all-day event featuring colleagues, judges, and outside experts discussing topics on all aspects of the plaintiff’s employment practice. We will also present 
MWELA's 2025 Lawyer of the Year Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

Please Note: CLE documentation will be sent to confirmed attendees via email when received from each state, approximately 90-120 days following the conference. 

Register Now

Tentative Agenda (Subject to change)

8:00 am - Registration & Breakfast
8:30 am - Welcome & Opening Remarks
8:45 am - Marshaling Evidence for Summary Judgment and Trial

This panel will discuss discovery practices that prepare plaintiffs’ practitioners to defeat summary judgment and win at trial. The goal of our jurist panelists is to hear the court’s perspective on the effective use of evidence at the summary judgment stage as compared to the presentation to a jury at trial.
  • The Honorable Gerald Bruce Lee (Ret.), The McCammon Group, Ltd.
  • The Honorable Judge Ana C. Reyes District Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
  • The Honorable Ajmel A. Quereshi Magistrate JudgeU.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
  • Andrew AdelmanCorriea & Puth, PLLC (Moderator)

9:55 am - Break
10:05 am - TRAPs, Non-Competes, and NDAs: How to Push Back on Employer Restrictions

The panel will address new and evolving legal strategies and laws that allow workers to fight back against some of the most powerful tools employers have used to undermine worker power: restrictive covenants. This panel will also discuss developments on non-disclosure agreements, non-competition agreements, and stay-or-pay or training repayment agreements.

  • Anna Prakash, Nichols Kaster, PLLP
  • Jessica RutterNational Labor Relations Board
  • Amy ShulmanOutten & Golden LLP
  • Vasu Reddy, National Women’s Law Center 

11:20 am - Hot Topics in Reasonable Accommodation Law
The panel will begin by providing a quick overview of the obligations that arise under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act when an employee or job applicant requests reasonable accommodation. Then, the panel will focus on several types of accommodation including telework, remote work, leave, and other work accommodations. The panel will offer insights into how courts and administrative tribunals are likely to resolve litigation arising from reasonable accommodation requests.

  • Brian East, Esq., Disability Rights Texas
  • Joanna Friedman, Federal Practice Group
  • Jonathan MookOgletree Deakins
  • Carolyn Wheeler, Katz Banks Kumin LLP (Moderator)

12:30 pm - Luncheon & Award Recognitions

  • Memoriam
  • Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation - Daniel Katz (posthumously)
  • Lawyer of the Year Award Presentation - Jonathan Puth, Correia & Puth, PLLC
  • Fireside Chat with Jonathan Puth

2:15 pm - Challenges of Navigating Overlapping Whistleblowers
Employee whistleblower matters often involve a complex web of government reward programs and employment-related legal issues, such as retaliation, severance negotiations, and contract claims. These overlapping matters can create headaches for plaintiff-side practitioners and, if not managed strategically, can end up leaving money on the table for your client and creating other problems. Our panel of seasoned whistleblower attorneys will discuss common pitfalls when handling these matters and how to overcome them. Attendees will learn effective strategies for collaborating with fellow plaintiffs’ counsel in their representation of whistleblowers.

  • Sarah ChuSanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, LLP
  • Janel QuinnThe Employment Law Group
  • Jason Zuckerman, Zuckerman Law
  • Nick O'Connor, Katz Banks Kumin LLP (Moderator)

3:25 pm - Break
3:35 pmRaffle Drawing Chet Levitt Fund for Employment Law

3:40 pm - How to Avoid and Face the Most Common Bar Complaints
This panel of experts on legal ethics, who represent attorneys practicing in the D.C. Metropolitan Area, will discuss the most common causes of Bar complaints, how to avoid them, and how to most effectively defend against them. Among the types of complaints that will be covered are avoidable attorney-client miscommunications, lack of diligence in representation, fee disputes, and disposition of settlement funds.

  • Seth Guggenheim, Schumack & Guggenhein, PLLC
  • Irwin R. Kramer, Kramer & Connolly
  • Phoebe M. Wolfe, Cohen Milstein (Moderator)

5:00 pm - Closing Remarks
5:05 - 6:00 pm - Networking Reception

REGISTRATION RATES (For In-person and Virtual Attendees)

Member Registration, early bird rate
(Member must login before registering and have renewed annual membership, with an expiration date of 12/31/25 to qualify for this rate.)

$285.00 Until 12/31/2024

Member Registration, regular rate 
(Member must login before registering to receive this rate.)

$350.00 Beginning 1/1/2025
Non-Member Registration $485.00  
Non-Profit Registration $275.00 Use discount code 2025NP
Student / Young Attorney Registration
(Under 5 yrs. as an attorney)
$275.00 Use discount code 25StdRate

In-Person registration closes Friday, February 21st at Noon ET. 
Virtual registration will be available through February 28, 2025.

Register Now

Please Note: A small number of overnight rooms at The Mayflower Hotel have been made available for February 27th only at the rate of USD 279.00 + taxes & fees. Those rooms may be reserved at this link until they have been sold out. 

Dietary restrictions and special accommodation requests must be received by February 13, 2025.
MWELA will abide by all current health restrictions and guidelines that may be in place at the time of the conference.

All registrants will receive a link to conference related materials one day prior to the event. 
Virtual registrants will also receive Zoom login information.
Please watch your in-box and check your spam filter if necessary.


Cancellation Policy:
Requests for registration cancellation refunds must be received and processed by 5:00 pm, February 13, 2025.
Replacement attendees are permitted and encouraged in place of cancellation.
A refund of 75% of the registration fee will be issued. No refunds can be issued for cancellations received past the deadline.

Thank You to our Annual Meeting Sponsors

Sustaining Sponsors

PlanetDepos2024
   
JMWSettlements

Gold Conference Sponsors

Corriea & Puth       Gilbert Employment Law        Outten & Golden
Katz Banks Kumin     KCNF 2025     Tully Rinckey


Silver Conference Sponsor

CBCBN   Kator Parks Weiser & Wright

Bronze Conference Sponsor

District Employment Law

Exhibitors

Tully Rinckey     WorkplaceFairness2025